Forestway Gate was a colossal structure erected on the eastern entrance of the grand bridge that provided passage over the estuary to Aeroz. Five towers stood with their feet in the water holding up the bridge with suspenders. Rugged trusses and stone masonry made it accessible to heavy vehicles and endless traffic. 

Though the gargantuan bridge, spanning almost a thousand metres across to the city, appeared sturdy, large chunks from its piers, piles and arches seemed to have withered away, either by time or by weather. 

It was imperative for everyone entering the city to pass through this gate — a security mandate. The only other registration office was at the docks, for those who came by sea. Aeroz’s only threat was from the south, across the Estuary, for which it had been well-guarded against by the city walls.

Zov’ha, Sinovan and Efiros reached the gate by foot just before noon — they had thought it better to leave the hoverbike and wagon behind to avoid getting caught in traffic. Zov’ha had armed herself with her hefty lance even after Sinovan had protested that it may pose a problem at the gate — but she was obdurate. The lance goes where she goes. 

The multitude of people that bustled about the walkways made her feel extremely restless; she almost turned around to head back. Sinovan didn’t notice when she stopped momentarily to gather her courage, so she took a deep breath and continued to follow him. 

Efiros shuddered from the humdrum of the busy street. He was a woodland beast — he walked silently close to Zov'ha, looking timidly at everyone around him. But no one seemed to notice. There were others with strange looking beasts with them — macaques, colourful birds in cages, bats… they even saw an old man riding a boar that had mechanical legs and bionic eyes. 

The highway lane, for those entering the city, was chock-a-block with vehicles, while the exit lane was a blur of fast moving Aerozan trailer-trucks, buses and bikes. They had to use the brightly lit, yet crowded, subway to get to the other side, which made Zov’ha even more anxious.

Once they were on the other side, they witnessed the marvel of the crenellated walls surrounding the city on the opposite banks of the estuary. Though they were made of concrete — unpainted and dull, in accordance with the Brutalist architecture of the rest of Aeroz, they were enormous, and circled for hundreds of kilometres around the metropolitan area. Soaring watch towers at every bend of the wall kept watch, both within and outside. 

‘Welcome to Aeroz,’ Sinovan said over the din of traffic as they approached the queue of people waiting to be let into the city.   

She was still awestruck by the magnificence of Aeroz, ‘How did they build this city?’ 

‘It was built before the Divine Purge they say,’ Sinovan replied as a matter-of-factly. ‘It was the grandest to be ever built. It was partially destroyed during the wars. The Aerozans rebuilt whatever they could. What you’re seeing now is only a quarter of what it was in its former glory.’  

‘Hard to believe,’ she whispered, as the queue moved forward and more people joined in behind her. 

The guards at the gate wore intricately designed blue-grey battlesuits under their tactical vests and carried basic weaponry. Almost all of them wore helmets. They hurried back and forth making sure the line kept moving. Most of them lurked around the small passageway at the gate through which pedestrians entered.  

As they reached the entrance, Sinovan parted the cloth wraps of his farmer’s outfit to reveal a small circular disk embedded below his left shoulder. One of the guards scanned the chip with her gloved hand, the fingers of which emitted a green light that blinked on and off rapidly. 

Through the visor of her helmet, a set of mechanical eyes and a bionically reconstructed nose was discernible. After a few seconds, her voice emanated from the helmet’s mouthpiece, ‘You’re good to go.' 

Sinovan stepped into the passageway, and Zov'ha and Efiros followed, but were immediately stopped by the guard, ‘Woah, hold it missy! Where do ya think you’re goin’?’ 

The Calcar stepped back immediately, ‘She’s a traveller. I’ll be taking her for registration. ’ 

The guard scanned Zov’ha from head to toe with her glove. ‘All ‘spats…’ she paused to scan the apprehensive bear cub next, ‘and their fluffs… must report to the Rover’s Guild.’ 

‘I’m not a ‘spat’!’ Zov’ha protested. 

‘She means expat,’ Sinovan interjected, in an attempt to conciliate her. ‘Think nothing of it.’ 

‘Oh,’ Zov’ha barked, contrite about her reaction. Leaning on her lance, she continued, ‘And where is this Rover’s Guild?’ 

‘That’s a fancy-ass stick,’ replied the guard. Zov’ha immediately moved her lance as far away as possible from the guard’s reach. Unthreatened by Zov’ha’s reluctance, the guard continued, ‘There are a lotta weirdos comin’ through Aeroz lately but luckily we got codes here. Surrender your weapon now, then come collect it when you have registered with the guild.’

‘I’ll show you the way to the Guild, Zovhara,’ Sinovan’s stooped figure hobbled into Zov’ha’s peripheral vision. ‘Let go off the lance, ay? We can come back for it later.’ Zov’ha sighed, eyed the guard, and handed over the weapon to her.

Sinovan then turned to the guard, a kind expression on his face. ‘I apologise for the hold up, but I would like to know: since when is the Rover’s Guild interested in registrations? All newcomers were registered here… at the gate, as far as I remember.’ 

‘New no-no’s,’ the guard replied, struggling to hold the heavy lance. ‘The Confeds’ lookin’ for ‘spats to do things it doesn't wanna own up for… so all new poops go to the guild! Meet Thalina. She’ll tell ya what to do. Get a chip hooked up and you're free ta haunt whatever alley you like.’ 

Sinovan shook his head disapprovingly and gestured to Zov'ha to follow him. ‘Don’t worry,’ he reassured her as he led the way, ‘You’re safe here. Come, this Thalina will get you fixed up with everything you need. She’ll arrange someone to surgically implant a disk under your left shoulder so you don’t get stopped everywhere. It’s quite safe and painless. All they need is your heart scan for identity.’ 

‘Why the heart?’ Zov’ha asked, quivering at the thought of having something artificially implanted. 

‘Well,’ Sinovan started, keeping an eye on where they were heading so as to not get disoriented by the crowd. ‘Half of us are so mutated that we have body parts missing. Some don’t have eyes and others don’t have limbs, and yet there are others who don’t have whole halves of bodies. The only thing that all of us have is that pumping machine inside of us. So they keep a record of everyone’s heart scan. Make sense?’

They waded through the crowded narrow pedestrian lane of the bridge. The gushing of the estuary was audible to the left, and the buzzing of incessant traffic to the right. This is oddly peaceful, Zov’ha thought. 

Efiros, too, had gotten a bit used to the novelty of the city. He kept to the fencing on the left, sniffing at trash thrown to the side, and licking the pavement now and then. He even had a go on a vandalised transformer box to which Zov’ha reacted with a horrifying gasp; eyes wide open, she embarrassingly looked around to see if anyone noticed. People turned a blind eye to the bear’s behaviour, she realised as she sighed in relief. He came jauntily back to her after he had finished his business. ‘Efy!’ she whispered, admonishingly.  

Their march across the bridge took them less than thirty minutes. When the lane opened up to the city, Zov’ha felt like she was shoved into the ocean. The buildings at the horizon were soaring, like giants whose heads were above the clouds. 

But now she noticed it — like Sinovan had said, these were old structures built at a different time, when humans had different technology. They looked as if they were crumbling and had been patched up to remain upright.  The serried edifices were oddly shaped with narrow bases — Zov’ha wondered if they were just badly built or made to look that way on purpose. 

They had still not entered the city walls. A collection of incoherently built smaller buildings was in their way — an outer district for offices and shops. Neon lights and broadcast screens lit up almost every corner, even in broad daylight. Inns and taverns appeared to be more ostentatiously built and showcased expensively designed signs and billboards. 

Sewer bots and cleaners in uniforms kept the streets tidy. Drones of various colours and sizes zipped past them. The crowd was thinner here as the people from the bottleneck of the bridge had dispersed. The traffic seemed to have been diverted in another direction and most of the streets here were “for pedestrians only.” 

The denizens seemed to be either too busy with their business or too busy conversing to pay attention to newcomers. Zov’ha noticed that their mannerisms were jovial but contained. She saw a common theme of colours, yellow, crimson, and other warm and dark colours. Blues and purples seemed to have been left out for guards and Confederacy workers. 

Just as they were about to turn into a sequestered alley that would lead them to the Rover’s Guild when Sinovan suddenly stopped in his tracks. ‘It’s the crystals,’ he said turning to Zov’ha, ‘They’re pulsating more than ever. I can feel it through my bag. I have to bring this to the Knights’ headquarters as soon as possible.’ 

‘What about my chip?’ 

‘That way!’ Sinovan pointed towards a rundown wooden building that was lit up with neon signs and plastered with posters and notices. ‘That’s the guild.’ 

‘It hurts my eyes,’ Zov’ha whispered. 

‘It’s ok. You won’t get into any trouble. Ask for Thalina,’ Zov’ha nodded as Sinovan began jogging away. ‘I’ll see you back at Farianvale at night!’